While each of the sociological theorists make good points as to how society works and why, I was most drawn to Karl Marx and his theories on how Capitalism plays a large role in how society operates. Marx believed that he could study various conflicts that society have and over time be able to see the outcome of those conflicts based on how similar conflicts had been handled in the past. Marx believed that society needed a change and while followers of Marx had said that a communist uprising was inevitable Marx responded by saying that “philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point however is to change it.”(Sociology Guide, 2011) Marx felt that conflict between the classes is an important factor in society. Marx thought that the classes were divided into the “haves” and the “have-nots”. This is still relevant today and can be seen all over the place with the conflict in the United States between the upper class (haves) and middle to lower class (have-nots). Society in this country has been divided more and more over the last several years with the fall of the economy. The gap between the classes continues to widen as the conflicts between the members of society become more prevalent and start to take center stage. An example of this is the Occupy protests. Members of the middle and lower classes feel that the upper class is taking money from their pockets and putting it in their own and that they are not making decisions that benefits anyone except for themselves. The division goes further than just between the classes in many cases. Political viewpoints have also played a large role in the separation between members of society. A lot of that separation revolves around the classes as well and political views can often be traced to a persons upbringing, standing in society, how much money they make and also what they religion is. This is not always the case but trends do exist. Many factors play into social conflict but one of the most major players is money and that is what separates the classes the most. Marx 's views on capitalism and how the class system works applies today and can be seen without much looking. It is one of the sociological viewpoints that I felt was in the forefront when looking at society today.
References
Concern Infotech Pvt. Ltd SEO Expert Chennai (2011). Karl Marx. Sociology Guide. Retrieved January 15, 2012, from http://www.sociologyguide.com/thinkers/Karl-Marx.php
References: Concern Infotech Pvt. Ltd SEO Expert Chennai (2011). Karl Marx. Sociology Guide. Retrieved January 15, 2012, from http://www.sociologyguide.com/thinkers/Karl-Marx.php
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The author Terrell Carver assesses the Marx’s social theory in his book (Marx’s Social Theory). This is a fascinating account of Terrell Carver about Marx’s social theory. Writer discusses the influence of Marx on almost every discipline of knowledge from aesthetics to theology, including anthropology, geography, jurisprudence, and history, almost all branches of philosophy, political science and psychology.…
- 536 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Marx, Karl, Engels, Friedrich edited by McLellan, David. The Communist Manifesto. New York, United States: Oxford University Press, 1992. Print.…
- 2030 Words
- 9 Pages
Best Essays -
There are a number of different sociological perspectives that attempt to explain class stratification. One theory of which is Marxism. Karl Marx believed that there was a definite conflict between the classes, and that the system of stratification derives from different social groups and their relations to the means of production. From Marx's perspective, a class group is when all it's members share the same relations to the means of production. Marxism also believes that there are only 2 classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, showing social closure. The bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat who have to sell their labour to the ruling class. Marx believed that the…
- 1571 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
As stated on the Course Project page, “An important part of our course is researching information on diversity and multiculturalism and its social, cultural, and ethical impact upon individual citizens, groups of people, and society at large.” For my research paper I chose to write about the promotional policy of a company in which a Latina who had been with the company for a longer period of time was not selected for a promotion. She accuses the company of engaging in discriminatory policies in which a man of Anglo descent was chosen for the position instead of her. In my paper I will talk about my research into the Hispanic culture, the role of a women in the Hispanic culture as well as women in the workplace. After I have talked about the above mentioned, I will enclose the scenario that I chose and will evaluate it. In conclusion I will try to create a plan to avoid a similar incident from occurring again.…
- 2094 Words
- 9 Pages
Best Essays -
1.)Social class is a “class society, a set of concepts in the social sciences and political theory centered on models of social stratification in which people are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories”( Grant,2001,p.161). The most common being the upper, middle, and lower classes. The upper class consist of people or families that represent institutional leadership, heads of multinational corporations, foundations, and universities. They are people who have finical stability and are well educated due to their finical income. Most commonly in American society today people fall in the middle class category. Middle class is made of people and families that are involved in clerical work, provide professional support, and engage in data collection. Even though they are educated based on local school systems they are not given the luxury education that you would fine with upper class. Last but not least you have the lower class. The lower class is commonly the hardworking of them all. They work full-time at wages below poverty line and commonly are on some type of social services help such as Medicaid or food stamp program (EBT).Even though they are entitled to education they commonly would rather work to just get by day to day due to finical struggles. Based on these classes’ people in today’s society have certain criteria that are used to determine ones place within the social class scale. Three most common criteria used to measure social class is wealth (property), power and prestige.…
- 2046 Words
- 9 Pages
Powerful Essays -
In today standards, society has developed into the concept of social classification by placing people into different social standards by using economic, political, and socio-economic status. This system of social classification contributes to the problems that develop in the lower and middle classes because how much they have to handle to keep up with today standards in the United States. America is supposed to be a place where all people are equal, but the way social classes work divide this country up by multiple conditions. Sadly, everyone today talks about the social class being a “social norm” in American society, where the upper class has more advantage and a controlling place in today society. What the upper social class society does…
- 150 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
There are different types of sociologists so each of those will have different theories on what ‘society’ is. Some of the types of sociologist is: a typical sociologist, feminists, functionalists, marxist new rights.…
- 601 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Analysis of 5 disaster movies addressing the realistic and exaggerated properties of the catastrophic event as well as the portrayal of peoples’ behavior before, during, and after the event.…
- 3088 Words
- 13 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Gang violence has been causing problems in America since at least the latter half of the 20th century. Many cities are subject to have large gangs and this by no means is a good thing. To name a few cities New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit have been known to be grounds for all different sorts of gangs. Whether it is a biker gang such as the Hells Angels, or an African American street gang such as the Bloods or Crips, all across America we are seeing the concerns over crime rate increase while the crime and murder rate have gone down. Chicago is one of the biggest cities to have been prominent on recent increase in gang violence. Most people blame inner-city violence in Chicago on the existence of gangs. But I think that the murder rate remains high in Chicago because of the amount of illegal firearms in circulation. Thus, I hypothesize that a decrease in the number of illegal weapons will result in a decrease in the murder rate. Criminals with no prior gun experience that participate in violent gang activities have caused the murder rate to increase twenty five percent in the last year (Venkatesh, 2012).…
- 1574 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
According to Karl Marx, wages are a representation of one’s potential value of labor, however company owners necessarily get more money from one’s labor than an individual is paid in wages, for wages are based upon what is considered the minimal amount of money needed to sustain a worker’s life. This makes it a structural necessity in capitalism to feel as though we are paid less than the amount of work we put in. Given the author’s arguments, going through a retraining program in order to find a fulfilling career goes with Marx’s claim that we sell our labor for a wage in order to live, but he does not take into consideration the satisfaction received in a fulfilling career such as…
- 1054 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In our generation we have gone through numerous economical, social, and political changes. Some of which our parents would never have dreamed of. Things such as the cell phone, Wi-Fi, 9/11, and various mass shootings have permanently changed the way our generation lives and has forced our parents' to adapt to a new way of life.…
- 512 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The time period in which many African Americans endured crucial discipline and segregation was known as the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement took place during the 1950s and 1960s. African Americans were brave during this time period; they decided that enough was enough and that change needed to be implemented.…
- 834 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, racial profiling can be defined as “any law enforcement initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than the behavior of an individual that leads law enforcement to a particular individual who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity” When examining racial profiling from a sociological prospective there are several theories and concepts that can be used to do so. In this paper the concepts of institutional racism, labeling theory, and conflict theory will be used to examine bill 1070 an instance where racial profiling is prevalent.…
- 949 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
Many observers of contemporary American society can argue that the social institutions within our nation are indubitable in a state of crisis simply by observing the internal workings of the economy or health care. Crisis is typically defined as, “A situation that has reached a critical phase and, thus, is in need of radical transformation.” Based on the definition of crisis one, especially an individual who lives in America, can adamantly concur that the economy and health care institutions in American society are in need of an extreme transformation for a multitude of reasons.…
- 1453 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
* Karl Marx He said that the working class will defeat the ownership class, and result in a utopia where government will wither away to nothing and the principle of economics will be based on "For each according to his needs, and from each according to his ability." His contribution to thinking in sociology is mainly in a perspective called "Conflict Theory" in which social organisation and change is based upon conflicts built into society. Many people see this as having much resemblance to classical (Greek and Latin) myths about the Phoenix Bird (who flies too close to the sun and burns) and creation myths of Athapaskan people of the Great Plains of North America. It is ironical that he predicted revolution to take place in industrialized societies, but the only communist revolutions in history took place in large agrarian feudal societies (as Russia and China were). Dialectical materialism and conflict approach.…
- 812 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays